1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel and a method of manufacturing the display panel and, more particularly, to a multi-domain display panel that may have an increased aperture ratio and improved yield and performance, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Discussion of the Background
A liquid crystal display (LCD) device includes a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate including a plurality of thin film transistors, a color filter substrate including a plurality of color filters, and a liquid crystal layer, which has dielectric anisotropy, disposed between the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate. A desired image is displayed on the LCD by controlling the intensity of an electric field to adjust the amount of visible light passing through the color filter substrate.
In the LCD device, the image quality may differ according to the direction in which the light is transmitted due to the anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules. Since the LCD device displays an image when light is transmitted in a direction that is not shielded by the liquid crystal molecules, it has a drawback in that the viewing angle may be relatively narrower than other display devices. Accordingly, a vertically aligned (VA) mode LCD has been developed to realize a wide viewing angle.
Types of VA mode LCDs include a patterned VA (PVA) mode LCD, in which a pixel electrode and a common electrode are patterned into a plurality of domains, a multi-domain VA (MVA) mode LCD, in which a projection is disposed on the pixel electrode and the common electrode, respectively, to divide the electrodes into a plurality of domains, and the like. Moreover, a multi-domain PVA (MPVA) mode LCD, in which the pixel electrode is patterned into a plurality of domains and a cut portion is disposed on the common electrode, has been developed.
The conventional MPVA mode LCD includes a bridge electrode, which may be made of the same material as sub-pixel electrodes in the middle thereof, to apply a data voltage to the sub-pixel electrodes disposed on both sides of a pixel region. However, it may be necessary for the bridge electrode to have a width of less than 6 μm to prevent malfunction of the liquid crystal molecules, and thus an etching defect may occur due to a mask misalignment during the formation of the bridge electrode. Moreover, the bridge electrode may be damaged when a spacer is disposed on the bridge electrode.